Brother to Pompeius Strabo

Sextus Pompeius Virdoctus (fl. late 2nd and early 1st centuries BC) was a

Roman Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

born into an

equestrian The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse". Horseback riding (or Riding in British English) Examples of this are: * Equestrian sports *Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...

family in Picenum (in the south and the north of the modern regions of Marche and Abruzzo respectively) in central

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, on the Adriatic coast. His

cognomen A ''cognomen'' (; plural ''cognomina''; from ''con-'' "together with" and ''(g)nomen'' "name") was the third name of a citizen of ancient Rome, under Roman naming conventions. Initially, it was a nickname, but lost that purpose when it became here ...

''Virdoctus'', suggests he was a first-born child and son. Sextus’ mother was called Lucilia. Lucilia's family originated from Suessa Aurunca (modern Sessa Aurunca) and she was a sister of the satirical poet

Gaius Lucilius Gaius Lucilius (180, 168 or 148 BC – 103 BC) was the earliest Roman satirist, of whose writings only fragments remain. A Roman citizen of the equestrian class, he was born at Suessa Aurunca in Campania, and was a member of the Scipio ...

. Lucilius was a friend of Roman general

Scipio Aemilianus Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus Aemilianus (185–129 BC), known as Scipio Aemilianus or Scipio Africanus the Younger, was a Roman general and statesman noted for his military exploits in the Third Punic War against Carthage and during the ...

. Sextus’ paternal grandfather was Gnaeus Pompeius, while his father was Sextus Pompeius. His younger brother was the consul Gnaeus

Pompeius Strabo Gnaeus Pompeius Strabo (c. 135 – 87 BC) was a Roman general and politician, who served as consul in 89 BC. He is often referred to in English as Pompey Strabo, to distinguish him from his son, the famous Pompey the Great, or from Strabo the g ...

and his sister was Pompeia. Through his brother, he was the paternal uncle to triumvir

Pompey Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus (; 29 September 106 BC – 28 September 48 BC), known in English as Pompey or Pompey the Great, was a leading Roman general and statesman. He played a significant role in the transformation of ...

(Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus) and his sister Pompeia. Sextus never obtained any high office of state, although he gained a great reputation as a learned man. The historian and senator

Cicero Marcus Tullius Cicero ( ; ; 3 January 106 BC – 7 December 43 BC) was a Roman statesman, lawyer, scholar, philosopher, and academic skeptic, who tried to uphold optimate principles during the political crises that led to the esta ...

, praised Sextus in his writings for his accurate knowledge of

geometry Geometry (; ) is, with arithmetic, one of the oldest branches of mathematics. It is concerned with properties of space such as the distance, shape, size, and relative position of figures. A mathematician who works in the field of geometry is ...

, Stoicism and

jurisprudence Jurisprudence, or legal theory, is the theoretical study of the propriety of law. Scholars of jurisprudence seek to explain the nature of law in its most general form and they also seek to achieve a deeper understanding of legal reasoning a ...

. The only time that his name is recorded in Roman public affairs was when, on one occasion, Sextus was present with his younger brother in his military camp during the Social War. Sextus married an unnamed Roman woman and had two sons: a younger Sextus Pompeius and

Quintus Pompeius Quintus Pompeius was the name of various Romans from the gens Pompeia, who were of plebeian status. They lived during the Roman Republic and Roman Empire. Consul of 141 BC Quintus Pompeius A. f. (flourished 2nd century BC) was the son of an Aulu ...

. His second son Quintus Pompeius, is only known through the letters of Cicero. In one of his letters, Cicero had recommended Quintus in an undated letter which was addressed to Curius, who was a Roman

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military command, or ...

of an unknown Roman province.

Cousin to triumvir Pompey

Sextus Pompeius was a Roman who lived in the 1st century BC and was a son of Sextus Pompeius. He was a cousin to triumvir

and his sister Pompeia. Very little is known on him.

Consul of 35 BC

Sextus Pompeius was a Roman who lived in the 1st century BC and was the grandson of Sextus Pompeius. His mother is an unnamed Roman woman. He was consul in 35 BC as the colleague of

Lucius Cornificius Lucius Cornificius, a member of the plebeian gens ''Cornificia'', was a Roman politician and consul in 35 BC. Cornificius served as the accuser of Marcus Junius Brutus in the court which tried the murderers of Julius Caesar. In 38 BC Octavian ga ...

. This was the same year his paternal second cousin

Sextus Pompeius Sextus Pompeius Magnus Pius ( 67 – 35 BC), also known in English as Sextus Pompey, was a Roman military leader who, throughout his life, upheld the cause of his father, Pompey the Great, against Julius Caesar and his supporters during the las ...

was killed in

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an are ...

. Gaius Stern has hypothesized that this Sextus Pompeius was plucked from obscurity to hold the consulship of 35 BC to fulfil the pledge made by the Second Triumvirate to Sextus Pompeius, the son of Pompey the Great, that he would be consul in the near future. Since the future Augustus had pledged that Sextus would be consul, he fulfilled this pledge with a different Sextus Pompey. The son of Pompey the Great was defeated at the battles of

Mylae Milazzo ( Sicilian: ''Milazzu''; la, Mylae; ) is a town (''comune'') in the Metropolitan City of Messina, Sicily, southern Italy; it is the largest commune in the Metropolitan City after Messina and Barcellona Pozzo di Gotto. The town has a p ...

and Naulochus in 36 BC and fled to the Greek East.

Consul of AD 14

Sextus Pompeius was a Roman senator who lived during the 1st century BC and into the 1st century AD. He appears to be the last known direct descendant of the original Sextus Pompeius. He appeared to have a witty character and to be very intelligent. Sextus was a patron of literature and the Roman poet

Ovid Pūblius Ovidius Nāsō (; 20 March 43 BC – 17/18 AD), known in English as Ovid ( ), was a Roman poet who lived during the reign of Augustus. He was a contemporary of the older Virgil and Horace, with whom he is often ranked as one of the th ...

addressed to him four poems when he was living in exile. These poems were collected in the fourth book of ''

Epistulae ex Ponto ''Epistulae ex Ponto'' (''Letters from the Black Sea'') is a work of Ovid, in four books. It is a collection of letters describing Ovid's exile in Tomis (modern-day Constanța) written in elegiac couplets and addressed to his wife and friends. T ...

''. His relationship to the previous Sextus Pompeius is problematic. Some authors infer he was the son of the consul of 35 BC. However,

Ronald Syme Sir Ronald Syme, (11 March 1903 – 4 September 1989) was a New Zealand-born historian and classicist. He was regarded as the greatest historian of ancient Rome since Theodor Mommsen and the most brilliant exponent of the history of the Roman ...

notes "an intermediate generation should be allowed for, as happens in the stemmata of other noble families." Based on

Cassius Dio Lucius Cassius Dio (), also known as Dio Cassius ( ), was a Roman historian and senator of maternal Greek origin. He published 80 volumes of the history on ancient Rome, beginning with the arrival of Aeneas in Italy. The volumes documented the ...

's assertion that this Sextus Pompeius had a connection to the imperial family, Syme catalogues some possible individuals who could have been his mother. Some authorities follow

Bartolomeo Borghesi Bartolomeo (also Bartolommeo) Borghesi (11 July 178116 April 1860) was an Italian antiquarian who was a key figure in establishing the science of numismatics. He was born at Savignano, near Rimini, and studied at Bologna and Rome. Having weaken ...

and assert she was the daughter of Lucius Marcius Philippus suffect consul in 38 BC. Syme suggests she might be the daughter of Sextus Appuleius, consul in 29 BC or the daughter of that consul's brother, Marcus Appuleius consul in 20 BC. Sextus served as consul in AD 14 with Sextus Appuleius. The two men held office when the first Roman Emperor,

Augustus Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pr ...

, died, and they were the first to swear allegiance to the new Emperor,

Tiberius Tiberius Julius Caesar Augustus (; 16 November 42 BC – 16 March AD 37) was the second Roman emperor. He reigned from AD 14 until 37, succeeding his stepfather, the first Roman emperor Augustus. Tiberius was born in Rome in 42 BC. His father ...

, Augustus’ adopted son and successor. At the funeral of Augustus, Sextus broke his leg. In Tiberius’ reign, he was one of seven witnesses of the ''Senatus consultum de Cn. Pisone patre'', the Roman Senate's official act concerning the trial and punishment of Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso; the act was published on 10 December AD 20. Later, Sextus served as

from 24 to 26.

Seneca the Younger Lucius Annaeus Seneca the Younger (; 65 AD), usually known mononymously as Seneca, was a Stoic philosopher of Ancient Rome, a statesman, dramatist, and, in one work, satirist, from the post-Augustan age of Latin literature. Seneca was born in ...

alludes to the wealth of a Pompeius, whose domains included the sources and mouths of rivers, then contrasts this with Caligula taking him into his palace and starving Pompeius to death, then arranging a public funeral for his victim. Although experts often identify Seneca's reference to a Pompeius with this Sextus Pompeius, Syme points out this would lead to "interesting (or rather intolerable) consequences for the chronology of

Valerius Maximus Valerius Maximus () was a 1st-century Latin writer and author of a collection of historical anecdotes: ''Factorum ac dictorum memorabilium libri IX'' ("Nine books of memorable deeds and sayings", also known as ''De factis dictisque memorabilibus'' ...

", and argues the Pompeius Caligula was so inhospitable to was an otherwise unattested son.Syme, ''History in Ovid'', pp. 162

References

Sources

Tacitus Publius Cornelius Tacitus, known simply as Tacitus ( , ; – ), was a Roman historian and politician. Tacitus is widely regarded as one of the greatest Roman historians by modern scholars. The surviving portions of his two major works—the ...

- ''

Annals Annals ( la, annāles, from , "year") are a concise historical record in which events are arranged chronologically, year by year, although the term is also used loosely for any historical record. Scope The nature of the distinction between ann ...

'' * https://web.archive.org/web/20080503112904/http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/1930.html * http://www.ancientlibrary.com/smith-bio/2808.html {{DEFAULTSORT:Pompeius, Sextus Ancient Roman prosopographical lists Pompeii (Romans)